Resting in God

“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me”

Psalm 3:5 (NKJV)

The Lord is our fortress and protects us. A fortress is meant to keep out the enemy and block the enemies’ attempts to destroy. When I think of David, I think of a man on the run from King Saul. God did not want David to kill King Saul, so David was always hiding and looking for shelter. Yet David, despite his circumstances, was able to rest and be sustained.

Before Ignite, I thought of myself as a “go with the flow “ type of guy. I soon realized that this was a false impression that I had of myself. I realized that I thought that because I really wanted to be that. I was a worrier at heart. While I was going to school, all I could think about at night was what I had to do and how it could wrong. It also didn’t help that I was a procrastinator. I would think, how can I fit in this homework into my schedule? But the entire time I would worry and get anxiety because of all the possible things that could go wrong. When I think of David, it honestly is hard for me to wrap my head around how David did was able to sleep and didn’t worry.

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you”. God has a plan for us. As I continue to remind myself that God has a plan for my life. All I need to do is live for Him and He will ensure that I live a prosperous life.

This verse challenged me to reside in God’s peace even more as continue to strive towards Him.

Hearing God

“My voice you shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to you, And I will look up”

Psalm 5:3 (NKJV)

The Lord is always with us, but we don’t always feel like we are in His presence. God is always there and is always listening to us, but we forget to cry to Him.

When I think of American, I think of everybody needing to be somewhere or do something. When I was in my senior year of high school, I desired to follow God. I realized it needed to go from being my parents’ religion to being my personal relationship with God. I’m not saying that I thought of Christianity as my parents’ thing, but I needed to take initiative with my faith. I recognized this, but it didn’t turn into action because I “didn’t have time”. I would have early mornings and late nights, while always feeling behind.

How many people do you think know that they can wait and listen to God? I think that it less than we assume. Even less people know that they can ask, talk to, cry out to and get advice from God. I made the mistake of giving excuses to a God that knows the truth. We can each take the time to listen to God in the mornings, and He will bless us throughout the hours, days and weeks.

I am challenged to wait and listen to God in my morning devotions each and every day. I am going to set aside a time for God to speak to me.

God’s Calling for Us

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place”

Esther 4:14 (NKJV)

This was the advice that Mordecai gave to Esther when he asked her to go in front of the king. Mordecai didn’t ask her to do it for him or herself, but to go before the king for the Jews. There was a decree put into place that ordered all the Jews to be killed and Mordecai hoped that the Queen, Esther, would be able to appeal before the King to repeal it. To do this, Esther would have to break a law and be forgiven by the King or else she would be executed.

I have always read this Bible story and loved the idea of someone stepping into harm’s way to protect their people; risking everything for others. But when I read this verse over I realized I misunderstood a crucial thing. I used to think of her as the Jews’ only hope and last effort for survival, but that isn’t true. God didn’t need Esther, He wanted to use her.

This brings me back to the first week of IGNITE. The first message I heard from my Pastor after joining the IGNITE program was on God’s handiwork and how God uses people to mold and shape us as Christians. One thing he said to me that has stuck is that God wants to use all of us as tools in His work, but He does not need all of us to complete His work. If God wanted to reach someone, He doesn’t have to use a specific person to do this but He does desire a specific person to do it.

God wanted to use Esther, but didn’t need her to bring deliverance to the Jews. God uses Mordecai to say to Esther here is God’s calling for you, pursue it, but if you don’t step toward it God will appoint someone else to the calling.

To apply this to my life, I am going to pray to God to show me His path for my life, not the path that is what I desire.

Fighting for Friendships

“Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit”

Genesis 14:14 (NKJV)

As I was reading through the book of Genesis, I came across this passage and set down my Bible in amazement. At this time, God has already called Abram to a distant land with his nephew Lot and his wife Sarai. God promised Abram the land as far as his eye could see, so Abram allowed Lot to pick the land he desired and Abram would take the other. Lot took the better land out of selfish ambition for his flocks of sheep, so Abram took what was left. As the years go by, the region Lot lives in soon is known as a place for evil men. An army attacks the city Lot lives in and Lot is taken along with all his possessions. When word gets back to Abram, this verse is his response.

Why do I bring all of this background information? Abram here exemplifies how we should act as Christians. Lot fights with Abram, took advantage of his offer for land, then benefits off of it. I read this think back to when I have fought with people, given up things for the sake of saving the relationships and have had others gain from my loss. If I were to look at someone in a relationship that had to do all of these things for the sake of saving it, I would tell them it is time for them to consider breaking up with them. But instead Abram immediately comes to rescue his nephew with his own servants and family.

To learn how to value people and relationships with as much commitment as Abram had for one who had wronged him, I am going to find 5 instances where someone in the Bible has fought for friendships.

Worry

“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified”

Hebrew 10:14 (NKJV)

Christ has come into this world, died and rose again for the sanctification of us from our sins. We all, as Christians, know this and believe this, but how much do we believe this? When I read this passage, one thing that stood out to me was the words “perfected forever”. No matter how mature we are in our walks, we all “mess up” and sin. If we are honest we will all also admit that we have put things into our own hands instead of asking God for His direction and following it. I know that I have personally worried about my sins and how I have not asked for forgiveness for all of them. Now don’t get me wrong, when I sin I ask for forgiveness, so I wasn’t worried about that. I was worried about me forgetting to ask for forgiveness or me needing to, but not knowing it. When I first read this passage, it was like a fresh breath of air; for we don’t have to worry. When we do wrong we should go to them and both repent and forgive, but we don’t need to stress over forgetting because Christ is our Savior. In Bible times, when someone sinned they needed to give a sacrifice to God so they don’t receive punishment.  They continued to try to sanctify themselves and become “even with God” just as I was trying to do with forgiveness. But Christ is our Savior and we don’t need to worry about self sanctification because He has already “perfected (us) forever”.

I am going to try to apply this by writing down 3 times that I have worried over forgiveness and then I am going to write down that Christ our Savior has perfected us 3 times.

The Comfort in God

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me”

Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)

When I think of God, I think of His power, love and sacrifice for us so that we can enjoy worshipping Him for eternity. I think of Him fighting my battles for me, weakening the enemy so I will be able to defend against his attacks. I vaguely remember reading this Psalm in class when I was in elementary school. Our project for the year was memorizing Psalm 23 and I loved reciting it becuase of the imagery. Everytime I read “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” and pictured going down a dark road with Satan ready for battle up ahead. All who strive to follow Christ and become His disciple are going down the narrow path that is difficult to stay on. It takes steadfastness and strength to not veer away from God’s path. Sin is trying to pull us off the path and Satan, the prowling lion, is stalking us for the perfect time to devour us. But we needn't worry because Christ has a rod to guide us and a staff to protect us from the beast. When we think of God's unrivaled power and might, we don't need to be scared or doubt because God is right behind us watching for the enemy and is ready to jump infront of us to protect us.

Although I know of my God's might, I am continually reminded of God's comfort. God is not just the Superlative King, but also is the Great Comforter. When we stray from the path, lose our battles with sin or leave our Shepherd and we fall down to our lows in faith, why do we sulk or turn to other imperfect humans when we can turn to the person who knows everything about us and knows exactly what we need to hear? I am going to pray to God the next time that I am in distressed and turn to God the first time to talk to Him as a friend who needs comfort and advice

Trusting God under fire

Deuteronomy 3:22

"You must not fear them, for the Lord your God Himself fights for you"
(NKJV)

When I read this, I first think of the song "and if our God is for us, then who can stand against us". We all have God on our side when we put Him as Lord of our lives. This is a truth that all of us know, but is often forgotten. I have had many times where I have been busy, had things that I needed to get done and have had things pop up that overwhelms and consumes me. I am reading through the Psalms of David right now and I read time and time again him turning to God. I, lately, have been convicted on turning to God matter the situation and depending on God with my everything. In this passage in Deuteronomy, Moses is promised that he should not fear his enemies that he will have to face to enter into the promise land because God is fighting for him. God is not only Moses aid and cheif tacticion, but is also his best warrior. If you were a king going into battle, would you listen to the advice of your best ally, the best strategist and your top warriors before you enter into the fight? I believe that we are all guilty of ignoring the council of our best before we go into battle and even when we are in battle, but we mustn't. God will protect us, grant us prosperity and lead us to victory; for even though it may seem that He is guiding us to the path of defeat, He is really guiding us toward the path of true victory in the war.
I am going to remember this by writing down a time that I was in one of my worst battles and how God led me to victory.